


cause you know that baby i

by gotchick



Category: GOT7
Genre: M/M, airport meetings, fem jinson, past het markson and jjp, sitting next to each other in the plane au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 13:05:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12059568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotchick/pseuds/gotchick
Summary: in one night, one flight, mark and jaebum discover that it's possible for meeting one person to change their entire world.





	cause you know that baby i

When Jaebum checks in his luggage at the counter, he is informed apologetically by the airline staff that the flight has been delayed. For just about an hour, or less, the pleasant girl who returns his boarding pass after stamping it assures him, and he can’t bring himself to be annoyed at her.

He slings his carry-on over one shoulder and looks around for a place nearby to sit. At the hour of 1 AM, the airport is relatively empty and most of the people around, his fellow passengers presumably, are sitting or sprawled quietly on chairs beside trolleys of their baggage, dozing or using their phones.

Which reminds Jaebum that he needs to check whether Jinyoung has called or texted him one last time before boarding the plane. Distracted by the thought, he doesn’t bother looking for a spacious area away from others as he usually would. He sets his duffel bag down a few steps away, and sits down beside it, digging his phone out of his pocket.

It’s only after he’s found no texts from Jinyoung, only one from his parents wishing him a safe flight, that he realises he’s sitting opposite someone. The seats on his left and right are empty, but still. It feels like when it’s really congested in the train and he’s stranded unintentionally staring at the passenger opposite him when he’s just trying to look straight ahead. It’s a little too close for his comfort to a stranger, and he would have moved a few seats away if it might not come across as rude. At least the person isn’t female.

The man seems to sense his attention, looking up. When he raises his face from his iPod Jaebum can see that they’re around the same age. The other young man is dressed in casual, comfortable clothes — not nearly sweats but worn, distressed jeans and an unbuttoned short-sleeved button-down over a white tee.

He smiles slightly, surprising Jaebum. It’s a polite, friendly smile, the flash of his teeth Jaebum catches toothpaste-commercial white. Flustered, he hastily bares his own teeth in a probably much more awkward answering smile, and clears his throat, looking back down at his own phone.

 

He scrolls through his messages for awhile more, re-reading old ones from Jinyoung. The last message is from him, read but unreplied. It simply contains his flight date and time. He wonders, for the umpteenth time, if he will see Jinyoung waiting outside Arrivals, looking pretty and missed, and what it will mean.

Lost in thought, he doesn’t notice the kid, a little girl of about four or five, careening towards him. She bumps into his hands and knees, making him gasp and the phone fall from his hands to the ground.

The child’s mother immediately rushes up, apologising profusely to Jaebum and making the girl bow to him too. Embarrassed at her hisses to “Say sorry to _ahjussi_!” Jaebum hurriedly assures them that it doesn’t matter and awkwardly ruffles the girl’s hair to show there are no hard feelings.

In the small commotion, he hasn’t picked up his phone yet. But as the mother departs with her kid in tow, he is startled once again by a hand forestalling him as he reaches for his phone on the sterile floor of the airport.

A delicate, fine-boned hand, tapering up to a thin wrist, offers him his fallen cell. Jaebum looks up, eyes wide, to see the man sitting opposite him leaning forward, eyes warm despite his quietness. Despite his almost girlishly slim wrist, his lower arms are thicker, and Jaebum can see sinuous, defined muscle peeking out of his shirt sleeves. The man is wearing some sort of colourful braided bracelet, rugged as if travel-worn.

Jaebum takes his phone from the outstretched palm, coughs and thanks him.

“Don’t mention it,” comes the reply in an unexpectedly low voice. Then a surprising addition: “You’re left-handed?”

When he looks up to study the man, the other is the one blushing at his own forwardness. “I’m sorry, I was just daydreaming and couldn’t help but notice which hand you used to type on your phone and take it from me.”

Jaebum hadn’t even realised the man was watching him while he was checking his messages before. And now, freely admitting it with more bravery than Jaebum. Something about this, and the gentle, mild-mannered demeanor of the man makes him want to ease his discomfort.

“It’s all right. Yes, I am.

“You too?” he asks, surprising himself, when the man just nods quietly at his answer without any further sign of wanting to extend the conversation.

The other smiles then, again, looking pleasantly surprised. “No, I’m just a boring old right-hander.” He shoots a lopsided, wry smile at Jaebum, somehow winsome and shy at the same time.

Jaebum nods seriously, and this time it’s his turn to be caught off guard when the stranger tacks on easily, “I’m Mark, by the way.”

“Oh — uh, my name is Jaebum. It’s nice to meet you.” Jaebum hesitantly extends a hand again, and the palm he had grazed before while taking his phone from Mark’s hand envelopes his this time, warm and slightly callused but mostly smooth, steady.

 

After a little more stilted banter in which they established they’re both waiting for the same flight, Jaebum pulls up the cuff of his black sweatshirt again to check his watch. The watch was given to him by Jinyoung, which makes him remember her every time he checks the time.

“Forty minutes more,” Mark’s voice drifts to him, making Jinyoung leave his head. He sighs, looking tired for the first time as Jaebum registers him, now free to stare from opposite. “Time passes more slowly in airports.”

“Is that so?” Jaebum counters pleasantly, now not so aware of their exchange of queries and responses. Around them, strangers are starting to strike up conversations with their seat partners too, simply on the basis that they are passengers on the same flight stuck in the same delay. People are bonding over topics of families; business; holidays — but Jaebum looks at Mark and doesn’t see much they have in common… or anything, really. He isn’t even sure if Mark is Korean, considering his English name and slight, charming accent.

Mark nods in answer to his question. “Sometimes, I guess. When one’s flight is delayed. But if you’re here with someone —“

He trails off, eyes looking distant, and Jaebum wonders who he’s thinking of, if he is flying away or towards a girlfriend or a wife like Jaebum. He kind of understands Mark’s meaning, because when they were still college students, the airport was a place he often came with Jinyoung to study all night. It was perfect because it was deserted and quiet, and they could make out when they got bored of cramming and exhausted, needing each other’s lips to wake them up.

He hadn’t come here to study since Jinyoung left for Japan to pursue her post-graduate degree. It wasn’t any fun coming alone, just felt lonely.

Now, though, he finds himself not feeling lonely or even thinking of those heated study sessions; because of Mark’s company. Jaebum is glad he accidentally decided to sit down opposite Mark. Otherwise, they might never have met in the waiting lounge full of strangers.

Since it feels inappropriately early to ask the qustion in his mind, whether Mark is single, Jaebum asks another.

“Where are you from?”

“I’m Taiwanese-American. But for a long time… home has been Seoul.” He smiles sheepishly at Jaebum. “And… you? Are you heading for Japan for business or pleasure… or do you live there?”

“My… girlfriend is studying there.” It seems the topic came up anyway, despite his attempt to avoid it.

“Ah. Wow, we’re pretty similar.”

“… You’re going to visit someone too?”

Mark nods, red creeping up his ears. “Er… kind of. But I can’t exactly call her my girlfriend yet. She’s someone… I’ve been chasing after for a long time, I guess you can say.”

Jaebum gazes at Mark with renewed curiosity. He wouldn’t have pegged him for the sort of guy who pursued a crush for a long time, determined and steadfast. But he supposes he knows nothing about Mark after all.

“Good luck,” Jaebum says, smiling at him relaxedly for the first time. “Your girl… she’s lucky.”

Mark’s eyes widen at this, making Jaebum notice how pretty they are — no, he’s never thought a man’s eyes as _pretty_. But Mark’s are beautiful, enormous and almond-shaped. He meant it when he said his crush is lucky — not just in the physical sense, but he can already tell Mark is a laidback, agreeable kind of gentleman.

“Thanks,” Mark mumbles, awkwardly shy again at Jaebum’s compliment. “Your girlfriend is very fortunate too.”

 

“How old are you?” Jaebum blurts out apropos of nothing, to change the subject. Even though he feels at ease with Mark now, he never expected to discuss his relationship with a stranger in the boarding hall. Belatedly, he realises his question sounded slightly brusque and he probably should have prefaced it with a polite _If you don’t mind_.

But Mark doesn’t seem to mind, candidly replying with a smile, “I just turned twenty-five, Korean age. What about you?”

Jaebum swallows his surprise. “I’ll be twenty-five in a few months too.”

Mark regards him with open wonder. “Who would’ve gussed you were younger than me?” Jaebum is taken aback by the playful glint in his eye.

“We’re the same age,” he grouses. “It’s not like I have to call you hyung.”

“True,” Mark hums, looking disappointed in a way that ridiculously makes Jaebum want to call him _hyung_ , at least once. He’s pleased Mark thought he looked mature, even in his sloppy hooded sweatshirt and matching pants, his flightwear.

 

He notices a few frazzled parents heading for a cappucino maching on a counter by the wall to get paper cups of coffee. Clearing his throat, he gets to his feet stiffly and stretches his arms.

“Restroom?” Mark guesses, looking up at him, and Jaebum shakes his head, inclining it in the direction of the machine.

“Coffee. You want a cup?”

Mark raises his eyebrows at the small gaggle of people queuing up to get their post-midnight dose of caffeine.

“Yeah, I’m thirsty, actually. Thanks.”

It’s only as he’s walking to join the queue that Jaebum realises his own throat is parched too. He’s not used to having long conversations, even with Jinyoung. And he definitely wasn’t expecting to have one tonight. They had talked about a wide array of topics while killing time, even though he’s already gathered Mark isn’t exactly a talker himself. It must be something about the anonymity of the airport, the silence of the pitch dark outside the windows broken only by airplane lights, the sheer boredom of the endless wait, the mutual curiosity of their first unpredicted meeting. Talking to Mark is easy, almost unnoticeably so. He checks his watch again; another half an hour had passed almost effortlessly while they were chatting.

He realises that he forgot to ask Mark what kind of coffee he would like when he arrives at his turn. He hadn’t known there was more than one type. Making a spontaneous decision, he decides that Mark looks like a latte kind of person. For himself, he gets an Americano. Jaebum carefully totes the paper cups in both hands as he walks back to where Mark is waiting beside his bag — he had migrated to sit next to it somewhere at the start of their conversation, it being difficult to crane their bodies forward to speak to each other; and now they’re not exactly sitting _beside_ each other but with Jaebum’s bag between them, a comfortable length away.

Mark smiles and accepts the hot cup from him, their fingers brushing again. Mark’s are cool now, probably from the air-conditioning. It’s pretty cold in here; Jaebum wonders if Mark has an extra jacket in his backpack.

“Thank you, Jaebum-ssi.”

“Just call me Jaebum,” Jaebum blurts out, somewhat uncomfortable with the formality.

“Jaebum,” Mark echoes obediently, only his bright eyes visible above the mouth of the cup he’s sipping.

He takes a sip of his own cup after sitting down, not looking at Mark for the first time but surveying their surroundings, the staff doing their last preparations before they open the boarding gates, parents starting to stuff toys and warm clothing back into bags in anticipation of being called first.

“It’s pretty good,” Mark says, bringing his attention back to him.

“Uh-huh.” Jaebum takes another gulp. It’s bitter, as he likes it. Mark seems to like the latte he got him.

Mark finishes up his cup and crumples the paper up. “No, no.” He waves Jaebum off when he tries to get up and take it from his hands to help them both dispose it. “Let me go this time. I need to stretch my legs too. I think the plane will be open soon.”

Jaebum is surprised to feel a pang of disappointment at his words, even though he already knew the hour that had felt so long and so short at the same time is coming to an end. After they board the plane, Mark will be sitting far away from him, and he will be sitting beside another stranger who he already knows will not be as comfortable company as Mark. He didn’t even ask which class Mark’s ticket is in.

 

Jaebum watches Mark walk towards the rubbish bin. He looks slightly shorter than Jaebum, his figure slighter, willowy and slender beneath the baggy clothes. But he moves with a loping grace that makes Jaebum want to ask if he’s an athlete, or a dancer, or something. Also, Jaebum isn’t used to noticing guys’ looks, but he can’t help having realised in the past hour that Mark is extraordinarily good-looking. He could even be a model or an actor, one of those idols Jinyoung used to go crazy about back when they were teenagers. Even in the state of dishevelment they’re both in from the wait in the cramped space, Mark’s hair is gorgeously tousled and his pale skin looks flawless, glowing.

Realising he’s staring, Jaebum quickly shifts his gaze back to the boarding gate before Mark arrives. He sits down beside his backpack which he had left on the seat beside Jaebum’s bag, seeming to trust Jaebum to help him take care of it and not to rob him. The row of seats dips slightly under his weight. Jaebum hears a soft sigh from his direction.

“I’m going to the restroom before they call us,” Mark says, and when Jaebum turns he’s giving him a half-smile. He picks up his backpack and slings it over his shoulders, explaining, “I think they might let you in before I get back.” Sure enough, the children, sick and handicapped have already boarded and the staff are starting to announce the next group of passengers over the PA system.

“I could wait,” Jaebum blurts out, not understanding why he feels so lost at the thought of this being his abrupt separation from Mark. They’re never going to see each other again — it’s unlikely they’ll bump accidentally again in the luggage collection crowd at Narita.

Mark shakes his head, smiling. “You go ahead in first,” he says, gently. “It’s been a long night.”

Jaebum just sits there, rooted to his seat and not knowing what to say or do as a parting shot — should he pretend he needs to go to the toilet too? No, that’s too obvious — when Mark turns around and adds, with his trademark understated, placid gentility, “And Jaebum — I had fun talking to you.”

 

* * *

 

After he uses the facilities, Mark washes his hands and bends to splash water on his face. It’s cool, bracing, making him feel wide awake. It isn’t as if he needs it, because he already doesn’t feel sleepy at all after talking to Jaebum.

It'd been a good conversation, one of the best Mark’s ever had in his life if he’s being honest. And he’d certainly never expected to find it in an airport lounge while waiting for a delayed plane to Tokyo. With a total stranger.

He supposes he has Jacqueline to thank for that — if it wasn’t for what he had vowed to himself in his effort to try hard to prove to her he could be open to opportunities too, he would never have been courageous enough to strike up a conversation with the chic, intimidating-looking young man sitting opposite him. At first, he had been worried that Jaebum had some important business to conduct on his phone, or a vital conversation he was in the middle of with his girlfriend, considering how intently he was staring at it after Mark caught him staring at him the first time. But Jaebum had turned out to be a pretty chill and relaxed kind of guy, someone obviously intelligent and educated, quiet but observant and thoughtful.

Mark usually doesn’t have much to talk about with the scholarly types, but he had found conversation with Jaebum easy and compelling. It was a welcome respite, because he also managed to empty his head and stop thinking about Jacqueline for a short while.

Before he arrived at the airport, he had expected to spend the entire plane journey dwelling on Jacqueline — his little chilli pepper, as he likes to affectionately call her in his head. She’s like a firecracker, red hot and bursting with life. It was why he had been uncontrollably drawn to her in the Chinese students’ society in university and never managed to fall in love with another girl.

And now, here he is — flying from Seoul to Tokyo in a foolhardy, stupidly foolish trip to chase after her like a lovesick puppy, Jacqueline who had flew to Japan without a second thought of him and only a short, breezy message saying goodbye, to pursue her dream of becoming a diplomat.

And Mark has no doubt she will suceed. As the years pass, Jacqueline will only climb higher and higher up from the time they were equals as university mates (he was even a little more senior than her, being an upperclassmen), getting further and further away from him in both distance and status. Mark never thought he would be the kind of guy to fall for someone so hopelessly unattainable. But he just can’t forget Jacqueline.

He still dreams of the afternoon she kissed him, in the empty club room at university, after the rest of their fellow members had dismissed. Jacqueline asked him to stay back to help her with her treasurer duties, and when Mark bent over to help her calculate a sum on the calculator, she grabbed his collar and hauled him over the table, kissing him.

Needless to say, after that day, he was smitten and infatuated. She reluctantly agreed to go on a few dates with him, but then the spark sort of fizzled out and he heard of her being spotted with other guys. And then, after her last year of university, when he was only one year into the workforce and adult world, she texted him to say she was going to Japan.

 _When are you coming back?_ he sent back with shaking fingers, afraid to ask what was really in his mind. _Will you be coming back?_

 _I don’t know_ , Jacqueline replied vaguely. She said her course there would take at least a few years — and then, Mark realised, there was no promise she would be making her home in Seoul. She could go to Hong Kong; remain in Japan; or fly to China where he knew she had family and friends — she could settle down anywhere in the world, or jetset all over it while Mark remained in his boring job in Seoul or flew heartbroken back to Los Angeles. The common memories they had shared and exchanged in those unforgettable club sessions, of having the communal experience of foreigners in a new, daunting country, would remain nothing but that — memories in the past.

So for the first time in his life, Mark had decided to be the kind of guy Jacqueline would be bowled over by. He would be fearless and adventurous, flying across cities and countries to sweep her off her feet, give her a romantic surprise. That’s what girls like… right?

If she wouldn’t come back to where he was… then he would go to her.

He had booked his plane ticket on this impulsive whim, adrenaline and frustration licking through his veins. Now, he hears the final boarding announcement muffled through the walls and stares at himself in the spotless mirror of the empty restroom, wondering if he made the right choice.

Well, at least — if nothing else is to be gained on this trip — at least he met Jaebum.

 

He’s one of the last few passengers to board the plane, and he joins the tail end of the line. The pleasant girl at the check-in counter who had apologised so politely about the delay almost two hours ago gives him another bright smile and apologises again. Flustered, Mark waves her courtesies away and tells her he didn’t mind waiting.

It’s true.

Everyone in Economy is already settled into their seats, looking winded from the delay and already half-asleep despite the plane not having taken off yet. Mark double-checks his seat number and finds his way down the aisle.

He stifles a gasp when he sees the back of a strikingly familiar head and height, in the aisle seat of a row of two window seats. The window seat is empty, the only empty seat around. Mark checks his ticket again, then moves closer to peek at the front view of the passenger, who has his headphones wrapped around his ears, and is listening to music on his phone before they take off.

He’s sitting beside Jaebum.

“Mark?” Jaebum sits up straighter, pulling his headphones off his ears. He looks confused, a flash of something in his eyes Mark feels stirring in the pit of his stomach, something not dissimilar to excitement.

“Why are you here?” Jaebum leans towards him, voice low. “Can’t you find your seat?” Then, as if stricken, his eyes travel to the empty seat beside him and back to Mark. “No way. It can’t be.”

“I’m your seat partner, again!” Mark brandishes his ticket in front of Jaebum’s face, trying to keep his voice down. It isn’t like him to be so excitable, but he can’t help feeling the sensation of pure joy that the stranger he had dreaded spending hours of uncomfortable and awkward proximity in is none other than his new friend Jaebum.

He doesn’t feel so stupid and ditzy, though, because Jaebum is grinning enormously for the first time Mark met him today, impossibly adorable eye-smile wreathing his face. Mark feels heartened, his last vestiges of hesitance disappearing that Jaebum obviously looks delighted to be sitting beside him too.

“I was wondering who my seat partner was, and why they were so late — thinking they must be a hard-to-please, rude sort,” Jaebum whispers to him as soon as he settles in, after having gallantly stood up and helped Mark stow his backpack into the overhead compartment. He didn’t notice before because either of them was sitting down when the other stood up, but Jaebum towers over him slightly, his broad shoulders imposing. His voice is low and warm in Mark’s ear, ticklish. Mark feels breathless from the short trek to his seat. They’re sitting in even closer proximity now, the space between them not much more than the legroom, Jaebum’s arm brushing his on the armrest. He smells musky, clean.

“And then I thought maybe no one was going to sit here and I could have the whole row to myself,” Jaebum continues when he doesn’t reply, making his heart swoop. “But this is so much better.” Jaebum’s blissful sigh and the slight catlike stretch he makes in their cramped shared air makes Mark’s heart lighten weightlessly again.

“I’m glad you’re sitting beside me too,” Mark replies, and watches Jaebum’s face light up.

“This is seriously such an insane coincidence.” Jaebum seems to be still shocked by the sheer luck they had stumbled into. If they hadn’t met in the waiting area and only just now found each other, Mark doesn’t know if he would feel as amiable towards Jaebum as he does now. The flight is short, and most passengers would likely spend it sleeping and not striking up conversations with seat partners they would never be seeing again after a few hours.

“In Chinese, they call it _yuanfen_ ,” Mark is surprised to hear himself saying. Then he blushes, because although Jaebum looks adorably clueless and curious, the two words are actually used mostly to describe romance, sappy and cheesy in a way Mark has never uttered to any person in his life, not even girls.

“ _yuanfen_?” Jaebum pronounces thoughtfully, slightly halting. The two Mandarin words sound charming in his foreign accent. “It sounds pretty. Does it mean like… _unmyeong_?”

Then he’s the one reddening, realising himself. “No, I’m sorry —“ at the same time Mark quickly clarifies, “No, my Korean isn’t very good, but I think _unmyeong_ is more like _mingyun_ , which means destiny. _yuanfen_ means… fate. It means we have a good connection with each other, so our paths keep crossing.”

He tacks the last bit on at the end, although he usually doesn’t speak so much at one shot, suddenly aware of how different this topic is from the masculine, reserved monosyllables they have exchanged prior.

“Ah.” Jaebum nods, seeming immensely interested. “I would like to learn Chinese. It sounds good when you speak it.”

Mark feels his face warm again at Jaebum’s compliment, as he’s always considered his Mandarin subpar from how little he uses it. “It’s a beautiful language,” he just says nervously.

 

The captain’s voice booms over the inflight intercom, thankfully breaking up their awkward conversation. They obey the instructions to fasten the seatbelt and stow away their electronic devices (Jaebum checking his phone one last time, probably for news from his girlfriend) and Mark focuses on the emergency video now playing on the minature TV embedded in the headrest in front of him.

The overhead lights dim and then the plane is taxiing down the tarmac, the little pinpoints of neon, red and green lights he had seen from the airport windows now visible in clearer definition outside the small oval plane window, swiftly retreating back under them.

It’s dizzying, somehow — watching the airport and the runway shrinking smaller and smaller beneath them from by Jaebum’s side, as the altitude rises little by little.

“How’s the view?” Jaebum asks, and Mark leans back to let him share it — the mind-bogglingly tiny toy houses seeming so far away from them now, another world altogether, wisps of clouds occasionally drifting past their window despite the darkness.

“You’re not the kind that gets airsick, are you?” Jaebum jests, and Mark laughs, the pressure in his body from the ascend loosening.

“I don’t think so. But if I were… would you move to another seat?” He meets Jaebum’s eyes, which are steady and dancing in quiet amusement, and something else — surprise from his question, maybe.

“I’d hold the paper bag for you while you puked your guts out,” Jaebum vows softly, making Mark snort and cover his mouth, eyes searching Jaebum’s in disbelief. Jaebum nods gravely, completely serious.

He feels bad, worried they’re disturbing the passengers around them — suddenly feels despite his adulthood that they’re like two adolescent kids, two old friends reunited after a long time and bubbling over with banter and wisecracks. He wonders if Jaebum will turn in, drawing the airplane blanket up around his shoulders and turn away from Mark in a while. He hopes not, feels awake instead of tired. He isn’t just glad to be sitting beside Jaebum for the comfort, but also hoping for another transporting conversation.

 

As soon as the plane is stable, the seatbelts sign goes off and stewardesses start pushing trolleys down the aisle, offering hot towels and refreshments. Mark can’t see the smile Jaebum directs at the pretty flight stewardess who stops beside them, but it must be very charming because she looks dazzled. She beams pleasantly at Mark too, handing them packets of peanuts and hot towels and the wine Jaebum requested plus Mark’s orange juice.

“You shouldn’t be flirting with the stewardess,” Mark whispers reproachfully in Jaebum’s ear when she’s out of earshot, making him sputter and nearly spit out his mouthful of wine. “Aren’t you already attached?”

Jaebum’s face is red, either from the near-choking or Mark’s words when he turns around, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I wasn’t flirting! Besides, she was too busy staring at you to notice me!”

Now it’s Mark’s turn to flush, having always been uncomfortable with attention from female strangers. He feels even more discomfited at the fact that Jaebum apparently noticed his looks and found him… appealing.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t call myself attached at this point of time, per se,” Jaebum sighs, eyes faraway as he drains his wine and stows the cup in the cup holder on his opened table. He takes Mark’s empty cup too and stacks it up inside his so Mark can have more space and fold up his own table. “It’s a long story.”

Mark looks at him curiously. He had just assumed Jaebum was in a happy relationship when he mentioned his girlfriend, going to visit her for a loving reunion classic to long-distance relationships. But perhaps… their circumstances are more similar than either of them realised. He wonders what kind of expression Jaebum would have on his reticent, calm face if Mark were to tell him about his history with Jacqueline in greater detail.

“Well… I hope you manage to work things out with her,” Mark says uncertainly, unsure if this is what Jaebum wants. It must be, right? Since he’s flying all the way to Japan to meet and talk to her. This romantic, painstaking devotion of Jaebum towards love strikes Mark as improbable from his outward undemonstrative exterior, oddly endearing. It’s gratifying to know he’s not alone in being a man who would fly to another country to win the girl of his dreams over.

“Thanks, I guess,” Jaebum says ambivalently. “Of course I hope everything works well for you too.” His tone sounds slightly uncertain as it trails off, eyes searching Mark’s, prying into them for something Mark doesn’t know. He quickly looks away, back out of the window, worried his gaze reveals too much.

 

In the end, he turns out to be the one who falls asleep. He must have been more tired than he thought. He startles awake to the rattle of the trolley down the aisle again. He hears children’s voices a few rows ahead, excited, and gathers from craning his neck that they’re serving breakfast. It’s just a less-than-three-hour flight, but the timing coincided with a mealtime and the airline must be feeling sorry to their passengers for the delay. Disoriented, Mark wonders how long he has been out.

“Tired?” Jaebum says next to him, making him jump a little and realise he has both their blankets slipping down his chest. Jaebum must have seen him fall asleep and tucked his own blanket over Mark, a gesture that Mark for the life of him cannot picture the man he is looking at doing.

He clears his gravelly throat and fumbles to pick up Jaebum’s blanket, wordlessly extending it to him. “This…?”

“Oh.” Jaebum accepts it back, seeming not to think his gesture was anything out of the ordinary. “You’re not wearing a lot, so I thought you might feel cold.”

“What about you?” Mark’s voice sounds coarse, and out of habit he touches his cheek to feel for stubble. There’s just the slightest sprinkling, not enough to be visible, but he’s worried Jaebum can see it from so close up.

Jaebum smiles sheepishly, gesturing to the hood of his sweatshirt he’s pulled up over his head, making him look younger than before. “I’m okay. My clothes are thick.”

Mark licks his dry lips and settles back into his seat, hoping he didn’t look embarrassing when he was in slumber. Jaebum is reading a book.

“Do you believe in fate?” Mark asks absently, making Jaebum look up at him with his small eyes widened.

“Uh… not really.” Jaebum seems confused at Mark revisiting the topic they had awkwardly left earlier.

“Really?” Mark raises an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. “Because the book you’re reading… isn’t it about that?”

“How did you know?” A smile has crept onto Jaebum’s lips and he’s once again regarding Mark appreciatively.

Mark pretends to be offended. “Do I not look like a reader to you?”

“No, no,” Jaebum says quickly. “That’s not what I meant at all. Just… this book is pretty obscure. I didn’t expect to meet someone who has read it before on this flight… and that person to be you.” Their eyes lock again, and Mark feels a _frisson_ of something above his stomach.

“I just happened to stumble across it.” He shrugs offhandedly. “So… you think fate is something that exists only in books?”

Jaebum pauses to ponder Mark’s question with touching seriousness. His profile is thoughtful, beautiful somehow in the hazy, shadowy plane light. He’s wearing a pair of glasses he put on to read and the overhead reading light flatters his soft, slightly tired features.

“Maybe,” Jaebum says finally, looking at him again. “I want to believe in it, but I don’t think I can until I personally encounter it myself.”

“Me too,” Mark murmurs, sinking back into the hard cushion of his seat. The stewardesses are approaching, and he gazes out of the window at the impenetrably mysterious black and waits.

 

Flying over the banks of clouds, into Japan, dining on breakfast leisurely with Jaebum — Mark has to say this is an utterly unlikely, irreplaceable experience.

Jaebum is an impeccable gentleman, almost as if Mark is a lady — offering him his orange juice, having noticed Mark was drinking it a few hours ago, and anything from his tray Mark might still want if he’s hungry.

“You eat a lot,” Jaebum remarks, sounding taken aback when Mark helps himself to what Jaebum can’t finish.

“You sound surprised.” Mark feels sheepish, worried he appeared gluttonous. But Jaebum smiles, his gentle, fond eyes somehow making Mark feel that he looks cute.

“Nah, I just didn’t expect it because you’re so skinny.”

“Hey, watch it! I’m older than you, and probably stronger than you too,” Mark retorts more huffily than intended because he’s a bit tired of people assuming he’s weak or eats like a bird because of his natural metabolism.

“Really?” Jaebum drawls out the word, grinning at him insufferably, the insolent gleam in his eyes suggesting he doesn’t believe it for a second. It’s maddening.

“I’m going to challenge you to an arm wrestling match once we get off this plane.” Mark mock-glares at him.

“You’re on.” Jaebum still has that ridiculously handsome shit-eating grin draped stupidly on his face.

 

* * *

 

The softly warm rays of morning sun filter through the glass walls of the airport as they walk out of Arrivals together. Everything around him feels like a beginning except the space between the man pushing a trolley carrying both their luggages next to him. Just last night, they were no more than strangers. It feels surreal, dreamlike that in just a few hours, Jaebum could feel more familiar to Mark than possible, more familiar than he has any right to be.

At the same time, he feels like a stranger — tantalizingly so, like the feeling Mark recalls at the start of his relationship with Jacqueline when he barely knew a thing about her yet and there was so much to discover, a whole new world.

It’s strange that Jaebum reminds him of Jacqueline — because heaven knows they’re nothing alike — but Mark assumes that it’s simply because he will be seeing her soon and doesn’t pursue the line of thought.

Beside him, Jaebum seems to be straggling behind, dragging his feet. Mark is about to offer to help, realising the heavy load is probably wearing him out, when a stunningly attractive woman walks briskly up to them, her eyes soft, and proceeds to throw her arms around Jaebum’s neck.

Jaebum’s eyes meet Mark’s from above her head, his neck being peppered in kisses, and Mark looks away but not before catching Jaebum flush.

“Oppa!” the girl exclaims, in a sweet voice. “I was so worried when I saw the flight was delayed, and I had to wait for an extra hour, but luckily I met a new friend who accompanied me! She went to redo her makeup to wait for her boyfriend, but she’ll be here in a —“

“Mark?” Mark hears in an unmistakable voice and looks up from the trolley to see Jacqueline walking slowly towards him, looking beautiful and confused. “How do you know Jinyoung’s…?”

At the same moment Jinyoung seems to realise that Jaebum’s trolley has another person’s baggage on it. “Oppa, you didn’t come alone…?”

“We met while waiting for the plane,” Mark hears Jaebum’s voice saying behind him, only appreciating now that he isn’t looking at Jaebum while listening how achingly deep it is. He knows that after these hours of listening, he’d be able to recognize it anywhere, anytime he came across it again. But… would he?

“That’s such a coincidence!” Jacqueline is saying with her usual brightness, kind of dazzling after Mark just left the shadowy confines of the plane, jet-lagged. “Jinyoung and I met while waiting for the delay to be over as well. If not for her, I would’ve been bored to tears!” Jacqueline laughs gratefully. Mark knows how much she hates boredom.

He hears Jaebum mumbling something behind him, but he continues facing Jacqueline and doesn’t turn to look at him again. He doesn’t know what kind of face Jaebum is making, but he sounds equally shocked at the crazy string of fate that led the four of them to cross path’s with each other’s partners. He wonders if Jaebum believes, just a little more, in fate now.

 

“Well, then,” Mark hears himself say heavily, finally turning back. He’s surprised to see Jaebum not embracing or kissing Jinyoung from the silence that had fallen behind him, but watching Mark warily. “We should probably get going,” Mark says, not meeting his eyes.

“S-sure.” Jaebum seems to be snapped out of his daze at Mark’s cool words. “Let me just get that for you.” He reaches down to heave Mark’s hefty luggage from the trolley, but Mark forestalls him.

As their arms graze for the last time, Mark feels the hair on his skin standing up with static. He remembers the wrestling match he had promised to challenge Jaebum to when they got down; it looked like an empty promise after all. Mark makes sure to show Jaebum his strength doesn’t lose to his anyway, by picking up his suitcase with an effortless movement and setting it on the floor, not even straining. Jaebum’s suitcase looks lonely, left solitary on his trolley. Its owner probably doesn’t feel so though, with such a breathtaking woman on his arm.

Jacqueline seems uncharacteristically fidgety, distracted, and quiet today, but Mark doesn’t even notice till they’re walking away. He’s too busy trying to ignore the weight of Jaebum’s silent gaze warm on his back, as if he expected Mark to say a formal goodbye or hug him farewell or something. It’s not as if they’re friends — just because they bonded a little on the trip here, doesn’t mean that they can just start a friendship just because they want to. He has no idea how long Jaebum will be staying, when or if he will be returning to Seoul.

This is how such things end — they’ll never see each other again.

 

Jacqueline is helping him to wheel his bulky suitcase, seeing through his machismo in an instant, so when she stops abruptly mid-step Mark is forced to stop too. Jaebum and Jinyoung are only a few paces behind, and Mark tugs urgently at the handle, wanting to get away as fast as he can, as far as he can run suddenly.

“Mark,” Jacqueline says slowly, looking up into his eyes gravely. “You're going to regret it if you never see that guy again.”

Mark gasps, air hitching in his throat, at Jacqueline reading his mind, and not just in her head but out loud. It’s like his thoughts are transparent, like the words are tattooed across his forehead. Mark swallows hard, pinning her eyes, stricken.

Jacqueline’s eyes soften, in that contrast that had captured his heart so many years ago. But Mark’s mind is filled with thoughts of Jaebum now.

“At least ask for his number,” she says quietly. “You can decide what to do with it later. Okay?”

“You’re crazy,” Mark gasps, the words tumbling out of his mouth. “He’s a man —“

“No, _you_ look crazy!” Jacqueline overrides him firmly, raising her voice in a way Mark is afraid Jaebum can hear. “You should see the look on your face right now, Mark! Do you know the only time I’ve seen you look like this before? That afternoon back in university, after I kissed you in the club room —“ Jacqueline breaks off, looking pained and embarrassed at verbalizing her bold actions.

Mark is stunned. He wants to place his hands on his face, dash to a mirror and find out exactly what kind of look Jacqueline is talking about. He was trying so hard to play it cool, but can it be obvious that he feels inexplicably… heartbroken?

He’s also reeling from the fact that apparently Jacqueline knows him better than he thought she did, that she has been observing him even when he thought she never paid attention. He’s overcome with a rush of feeling for her, less passionate but still strong.

“Jacks — I flew here to tell you… I’ll always love you.” Mark shocks himself with his words, words he never thought he’d have the bravery to speak in a lifetime. But that was before, when he was still in love with Jacqueline.

Jacqueline’s eyes brighten and shimmer with pretty tears, and her voice is rough when she replies, in Mandarin, “Me too, Yi-en. But… you have to admit… it hasn’t been the same for some time. Time passes… and people change. Feelings change.”

Mark knows what she means, Jaebum’s face flashing into his head, dear.

“But… what if —“

“Look.” Jacqueline stops him with a single word, gently steering him to turn around. Mark blinks to see Jaebum and Jinyoung still standing in the same spot, never having moved, still watching them leave. The expression Jaebum has on his face is complicated, torn, desperate… and he’s looking only at Mark, Jinyoung seemingly forgotten by his side.

Mark’s breath catches in his throat, swiveling back to look at Jacqueline, who is beaming encouragingly at him. She’s never looked so beautiful.

“Go,” she says, and tiptoes to press a chaste kiss on Mark’s cheek.

Mark has already spun back to face Jaebum by then, and the dismay that enters Jaebum’s eyes, the way the traces of warmth in his face falter, are enough to make Mark take a reckless step forward, back in his direction.

 

Jacqueline is still holding on to his suitcase for him, so Mark feels slightly stupid as he approaches Jaebum again slowly, foolishly. He’s suddenly hyperaware of the way he’s walking and Jaebum’s eyes following his every move till he’s standing in front of him.

“Mark?” Jaebum’s voice comes out in a croak, his eyes saucer-like, instantly making him blush hotly. Mark wants to hug him — not farewell, but lovingly.

“Jaebum, I —“ Mark worries his backpack straps, anxious at not having anything to tighten his grip over.

“Can you give him your number?” Unbeknownst to him, Jacqueline has crept up behind him and makes Mark jump about a foot high with her loud question. He spins around to glare at her, mortified, but beside Jaebum, Jinyoung sighs knowingly and speaks up for the first time. “Boys.” Mark catches their eyes meeting and communicating something wordlessly in that way girls do, but he’s too riveted by the hopeful look dawning on Jaebum’s face, thrilled and disbelieving, as if a miracle has befallen him.

“O-of course,” Jaebum stammers again in his rush to reply, for the second time since Mark met him. He holds out a hand for Mark’s phone, a gesture reminscent of how they met — which the girls don’t know. Already, they have private inside jokes.

Mark fishes out his phone, all thumbs, and nearly drops it this time when Jacqueline continues speaking beside him, in her confident, honey-sweet voice. “Speaking of numbers, could you give me yours too, Jinyoungie?”

Both men turn on their counterparts in confusion, not being aware that they were already on a nickname basis after merely being acquainted for less than two hours. Mark looks at Jaebum as it dawns on him that the only reason they met was that both Mark and Jaebum had forgotten to text them that their flight had been delayed, in the flurry of meeting each other.

Jinyoung looks shocked, a vulnerable expression on her face which she quickly recovers and breaks into a shaky smile. Mark knows how she feels — the effect Jacqueline has on everybody, men and women.

“I would love to,” Jaebum’s ex-girlfriend says softly, meeting Jacqueline’s eager gaze straight on with more frankness than either Mark or Jaebum have displayed.

“Jackie, you —“ Mark can’t finish his sentence, tearing his eyes away from Jaebum’s piercing gaze for a millisecond to gape at his kinda-ex.

“Yes, Mark. I like girls too. In fact, I prefer them. Sorry I wasn’t that keen on you — but it was nothing personal, you know?” Jacqueline sounds patient, flippant as if she’s explaining a grocery list. Jinyoung is already staring at her with moony, worshipful eyes as if she hung the stars in the sky. Evidently she has no qualms about questioning her sexuality as well.

All Mark can do is to blink like a goldfish and nod lamely. “It’s all right,” he manages to say.

 

He feels a hand on his arm, a familiar touch, and loses his bearings again. He looks down to see Jaebum has taken his arm, just closed his hand over it gently, to get his attention, as if he was jealous to see Mark talking to someone else, talking to his ex about their relationship. Mark can’t help smiling. Jaebum is so achingly lovaeble.

He still can't believe he's let another man -- let _Jaebum_ \-- upset his equilibrium so much, but for all he tries Mark can't bring himself to be mad at the gorgeous, younger man.

When he looks up shyly, Jaebum has that easy smile on his face and relief in his eyes. That smile that says everything is going to be alright, and Mark recalls the ending of the book about fate they had, fatefully, both read.

Maybe he’ll invite Jaebum to the airport coffee shop to have a drink before they depart for the hotel, ask him if he wants to fly back to Seoul together, and sweetly request for him to read the last line of the book that Mark still remembers clear as day in his mind.

 _And they all lived happily ever after_.

**Author's Note:**

> i know a number of my readers are markbum shippers who always hoped i would write more, and i too always wished for the chance to. this is for you! :)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [I think that possibly, maybe, I'm falling for you](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12099321) by [chanyeolanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanyeolanda/pseuds/chanyeolanda)




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